Baltimore man beat 75-year-old mother to death after argument, charging docs say

BALTIMORE -- A man admitted to police he beat and killed his 75-year-old mother to death Wednesday over an argument about her leaving the house, according to charging documents. 

Kevin Burke, 52, is charged with first-degree murder and related charges in Stewartress Burke's death. 

Baltimore Police responded to a call about a death on Gainsborough Court around 3 p.m. Wednesday. According to charging documents, Burke called 911 and said his mother was dead in her room and that he wanted to speak with police. 

Burke led police to his mother's body, which was at the foot of her bed and had "obvious blunt trauma to her head and her face. There, he allegedly confessed to officers. 

"She tried to leave, I pushed her down, I killed that b----," he told them, according to the documents. The exchange was allegedly captured on officers' body-worn camera. 

Medics made life-saving efforts, the documents said, but Stewartress Burke was pronounced dead on the scene. 

Burke was arrested and interviewed by homicide detectives after he waived his right to an attorney.

According to the documents, Burke told the detectives he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had stopped taking his medication. He allegedly told 911 operators he "zapped out" when he killed his mother. 

Burke explained to detectives that the assault happened between 9 and 10 a.m., and that during the argument with his mother, he knocked her down and punched her continuously in the face. He said that she did yell for help when she was on the bedroom floor, according to the documents.  

Family members told police that they last made contact with the mother around 7 a.m. in a text message. The relatives later made over 15 calls to the house attempting to contact her, starting around 9:30, investigators found. 

A neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, told WJZ Thursday that Burke lived with his mother and that she always had pleasant interactions with him.

"I was very surprised," the neighbor said. "I've seen the young man coming a going and he would speak and I would speak to him… I don't want to desensitize it because that's not right. The times that we are now you just never know what people are going through mentally, emotionally, financially you just never know."